You are not the boss of me Intel says Samsung and they boldly go to processor maker Via Nano for their upcoming Samsung NC20 netbook. Take that Intel! The computer will be running Windows XP and you can read more about it via Wired and friends.
Go away operating system! If this is the sentiment, there are rumors coming out of China says Slash Gear that Samsung's new ND10 netbook will come out of the gate without an operation system! That's right, no operating system!
This appears to be coming out in China, but so far there are no plans to bring it out in the Western world :(
The allure of this of course is that you don't have to pay for an operating system license if you have absolutely no interest in any flavor of Windows, no matter how new or old it is. So you can just load up one of the free operating systems, be it your favorite Linux distribution, Android, or anything else that may come up - eg the Google Chromie ;-)
It appears there is now a new career path for gymnasts, utilizing their athletic skills and sense of timing to catch laptops with their butt.
Yes, you are reading right, and Wired has the videographic evidence to prove it. The netbooks "participating" in this "experiment" are the MSI X-series, which are really lightweight and thin.
If they were not, well, I don't think this video would have been possible - to put it mildly.
According to this post at Tech Crunch, Dell's decision to abandon the 12-inch netbooks may be a results of Intel's power-play, squeezing out the Atom out of 12-inch netbooks and wanting to "box" netbooks at 10-inches or less.
This is rumor and speculation of course, but the pricing of Atom processors alone is a very good reason to speculate like this. Is Intel tempting fate and begging for a new round of price-control and monopolistic tendencies?
Well, for one thing, they are lucky AMD is still out there, but at the same time, AMD doesn't have a direct competitor to the Atom. On the other hand, this could be to AMD's benefit, since their idea for a netbook-processor stacks up a tier above the Atom. So perhaps Intel's greed and power-grab may turn out to be an assist to AMD???
With FIOS putting some pressure on the cable near-monopoly, Comcast is finally getting humbled and returning back down to earth with a new promotion, the Triple Play HD for $100, but with a twist. Customers who sign up for a two-year agreeemnt (so they can't bolt to FIOS), will also receive a brand new Dell netbook within 16 weeks of activating their services.
As usual, the deal has its share of fine-print and hidden fees which you must uncover like a brave Indiana Jones before diving into the deal.
The fineprint also mentions that in case they run out of Dell netbooks, they may substitute them with a "comparable model".
The deal is $100 per month for the first year and $110 per monthy for the second year and it includes Digital Cable with Free HD, Internet with Powerboost, and home-phone with unlimited nationwide calling and 12 popular features.
Installation and other fees are additional and are not disclosed on the mailer promotion.
Also not clear is whether the $100 price is in addition to a de-facto mandatory fee for basic cable. The fineprint seems to hint that basic cable is not included in the price.
This is a rather evil marketing scheme, since you can't have digital cable, without basic cable with the way Comcast has structured their evil plans.
Tricky marketing! Comcast never learns. FTC, BBB, class action, where are you?
Engadget follows the rumor trail that says that Intel has stopped accepting orders for their Atom Z-series processors. The Zs are only used by a small number of smaller-than-netbook computers, the most famous perhaps being the Sony Vaio P-thang.
It is interesting to see how things turn out in the netbooks vs notebooks vs tablets vs iPhones vs ebook readers...
Some people seem to think that internet tablets are the face of the shape of things to come in the world of portable connectivity. Of course laptop fans tend to disagree with this assessment, but there's only one way to find out! Stop eating double-stacked cheeseburgers so we can live long enough to find out in 30 years ;-)
This thing has some web-power, you can even run Flash 9 applications using the Opera (hooray!) browser for it.
And case in point, today's featured deal at Amazon is the Archos 5 Internet Tablet, a device with 250gb worth of storage. 250GB worth of storage can make a lot of netbooks and laptops jealous ;-)
There's a couple of long customer reviews of this at the Amazon page mentioned above, talking about these.
Microsoft is doing everything it can (short of throwing a blue-screen rave) to encourage people to get Windows 7. Going forward, all laptops purchase with Vista Premium, Business or Ultimate will get a free upgrade to their equivalent W7 version. And those who pre-order ahead of time, they can get a discounted price. Perhaps MSFT is borrowing a page from the Apple "Snow Leopard" upgrade promotion? :)
You can place your pre-orders online and get some good prices at:
* Amazon.com, for $50 for Home and $100 for Professional
* Microsoft Store - straight from the horse's software house!
You know it was bound to happen. The front page deal for this new week's circular at Best Buy features a "value meal deal" - if you buy the HP G60-235dx together with the HP 1116nr netbook, you will get an additional discount of $100! Yes, it's a value-meal! The individual prices, which are rather reasonable, are $500 for the laptop and $300 for the netbook. But if you buy them both, then you get them both for $700!
HP G60-235dx specs
+ 16-widescreen
+ 3gb memory
+ 320gb hard disk
+ dvd burner with lightscribe
+ Pentium dual-core
+ webcam
+ 6.6 pounds
HP 11166nr netbook specs
+ Intel Atom N270 processor
+ 2.5 pounds featherweight
+ 8.9" widescreen
+ 1gb memory
+ 16gb solid state drive (SSD)
+ webcam
+ Windows XP Home
What do you think?
Yes, $700 will get you those of these lovely mobile computers! A solid laptop with a 16:9 widescreen, and a lightweight netbook when you are on the go! Can you resist? Can you find a better combo deal at brick-and-mortar?
Dell has just launched what they call the most powerful gaming laptop in the universe. Their words :) The new 17" Alienware M17x gaming laptop starts at $1800, and in typical Dell fashion, it can be customized to your liking.
Some of the performance-boosting options
* Supports the highest performance mobile GPU's with both ATI Mobile CrossFireX and NVIDIA Mobile SLITM graphics solutions (it never hurts to have choice!)
* latest Intel processors including second generation Penryn Quad-Core Extreme and Overclocked CPUs.
* vrooming with DDR3 1333MHz memory
* MIMO technology with a/b/g/N mini-card
* beyond wide - HD WUXGA (1920 x 1200) LCD.
* new Alienware industrial design (aliens or X-Files cast members not included!)
What's in the $1800 base configuration?
* Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 2.4GHz (3MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB)
* 64-bit Vista SP1
* Single NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M, 1GB
* 17-inch WideXGA+ 1440x900 (900p)
* 4GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1066MHz
* 250GB 7,200RPM w/ Free Fall Protection
* Slot-Load Dual Layer DVD Burner (DVD+-RW, CD-RW)
* no TV tuner
* 1Yr Ltd Hardware Warranty, InHome Service after Remote Diagnosis
* choice of AlienFX lightning effects color theme
* choice of Avatar and ... wallpaper (!)
* included McAfee VirusScan Plus – 15-Month Subscription (English)
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